“Trendy” diagnoses

Hi, AH, don't worry about your post being long. I completely agree and empathise. I did say on another post recently that I think adult autism is highly under diagnosed, and I think this is part of the reason why. Some of us on here know we are somewhat "different", but for various reasons we don't get diagnosed, so we're not in the statistics and therefore the rate of autism in adults is not known.

I had a doctor tell me it wasn't worth getting diagnosed because it wouldn't get me any help, but that wasn't the reason I didn't go for it (I wasn't expecting help anyway) - it was because I don't fully trust the mental health "experts" and if I had been told I wasn't autistic I wouldn't have anything to explain why I'm different, which would have been awful.

When I first came on here I was astonished at how much I identified with autistic adults, and so grateful for the advice and support I was given, and learning about autism has helped me adapt and cope better. I try to repay that help by supporting others here when I can.

You are one of us, so please don't worry about what anyone else says - we're here for you.

Hi, AH, don't worry about your post being long. I completely agree and empathise. I did say on another post recently that I think adult autism is highly under diagnosed, and I think this is part of the reason why. Some of us on here know we are somewhat "different", but for various reasons we don't get diagnosed, so we're not in the statistics and therefore the rate of autism in adults is not known.

I had a doctor tell me it wasn't worth getting diagnosed because it wouldn't get me any help, but that wasn't the reason I didn't go for it (I wasn't expecting help anyway) - it was because I don't fully trust the mental health "experts" and if I had been told I wasn't autistic I wouldn't have anything to explain why I'm different, which would have been awful.

When I first came on here I was astonished at how much I identified with autistic adults, and so grateful for the advice and support I was given, and learning about autism has helped me adapt and cope better. I try to repay that help by supporting others here when I can.

You are one of us, so please don't worry about what anyone else says - we're here for you.

Hi Pixiefox, I completely agree that autism (and other neurodivergences) are highly under diagnosed! The medical system is still playing catch-up to its own biases; initially autism was believed to only exist in boys (a.k.a they would grow out of it by the time they were men), then 'eventually' medical professionals clocked that females can have it too, It wasn't until 2013 that medical professionals realised people could have Autism 'and' ADHD, and its only coming to light in recent years that female autism may present differently to male autism (although, I would argue that males could have the female presentation of autism and vice versa).

Countless females have been mis-diagnosed over the years, usually with something psychiatric based (popular ones being borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, generalized anxiety disorder [i'm sure there's plenty more too]). The medications prescribed for these would only make emotional regulation worse!

I still remember the quote from Dr.Daniel Amen I came across when studying "Psychiatrists are the only medical specialists who don't look at the organ they treat. Cardiologists look, neurologists look, orthopaedists look, but psychiatrists guess."
It's horrifying when you consider how easily medication is prescribed (e.g. prescribing antidepressants which are designed to increase serotonin levels, without first measuring the individuals serotonin levels, which could easily cause serotonin syndrome if their serotonin levels are high), the brain should be examined first, especially given that autism markers can allegedly be spotted with 'fast brain scans' with up to 90% accuracy (which is surely better than a guess).

I had a similar experience to you with Doctors being curious why I wanted to be assessed for Autism so late in life; they really don't understand the impact it has on us by simply knowing who we are (and, in my case, why I wasn't responding to neurotypical medical interventions for trauma). It took me two years to go from self-diagnosed to seeking diagnoses because I too had major trust issues with doctors (I didn't want to be hurt by them, or held in a medial facility against my will, etc, which are perfectly reasonable fears to have, even today).
It was such an eye opener when I not only had the word to describe the 'what' (Autism), but also 'why' I struggled to explain the struggle itself (Alexithymia). Understanding 'masking' helped me to recognise sensory overwhelm, and understanding nervous system regulation got me on the correct medication to prevent NEAD (non-epileptic attack disorder).

And thank you for your warm words! You helped me a lot! 

Lotus said:

it was because I don't fully trust the mental health "experts" and if I had been told I wasn't autistic I wouldn't have anything to explain why I'm different, which would have been awful

Yes! Absolutely agree. 
i was also told by other psychiatrist that I don’t need dx because it wouldn’t help me, but I do have some struggles managing stress so I have an appointment with a psychologist, if it’s related to trauma for example, then maybe it’s manageable. If it’s just me being so sensitive, maybe there are some coping strategies. Thank you for your answer. I would like to say - I don’t want to criticize people who use social media and learned about mental health from there, there is also a valuable content, but generally the trend of making those short videos making kinda fun of autism, ADHD, Tourette’s, OCD etc are actually harmful to those who struggle and then get such comments from professionals. This behavior was unprofessional btw.